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| Carnegie Mellon athletics photo |
Carnegie Mellon head football coach Rich Lackner has announced that he will retire following the 2021 season. This season marks Lackner’s 36th year at the helm of the Tartans, his 43rd as a coach at his alma mater and 47th on campus.
“I will be forever grateful to Carnegie Mellon for allowing me the opportunity to lead the Tartan football program for the past 36 years,” said Lackner. “It has been a privilege and an honor to do so. Throughout my tenure at the university I was blessed with incredible coaches and amazing young men who were competitive, hard-working, dedicated and loyal. I want to thank the Tartan community for all they have done for me and my family!”
The veteran first stepped on Carnegie Mellon’s campus in 1975 as a student-athlete. Following his 1979 graduation with a bachelor’s degree in history, Lackner remained with then-head coach Chuck Klausing as an assistant coach. Seven years later, Lackner was named head coach when Klausing left to join Mike Gottfried’s staff at the University of Pittsburgh.
“Rich Lackner is one of the finest human beings I have ever known. He has never looked at football as just wins and losses, but rather, he has always embraced the opportunity to teach, mentor and educate young men during a formative time in their lives,” said athletic director Josh Centor. “I am forever humbled by the privilege to have worked alongside Rich for the past 14 years. There is nothing he wouldn’t do to support a player, colleague or friend. His legacy will be felt at Carnegie Mellon forever.”
Under Lackner’s leadership, the Cardinal and Gray have amassed a 226-123-2 (.647) record, including 12 conference championships and two NCAA playoff berths. Eleven of those conference championships came in the University Athletic Association during a 29-year span. Lackner was named the UAA Coach of the Year seven times, including in 2006 after the most productive season under his watch. That season, he led the Tartans to an 11-1 mark, the most wins in school history, and their sixth appearance in the NCAA playoffs. He was also named South Region Coach of the Year by D3football.com in 2006.
Lackner became the program’s all-time winningest coach on Sept. 19, 1998, after the Tartans defeated Bethany, 38-7. During the 2016 season, Lackner became the 79th football coach in NCAA history to amass 200 wins following a 49-33 victory over Thiel. He is one of 16 active head coaches among all divisions with 200 career victories, and he is third among active Division III head coaches in total career wins. He became the 34th coach ever to win all 200 games at the same institution, and just the 11th to do so at the Division III level.
In the fall of 2019, Lackner was inducted into the inaugural class of Carnegie Mellon University’s Athletics Hall of Fame. He was also inducted into the Western Pennsylvania Hall of Fame in 2003 and was awarded the Bob Prince Award during the Catholic Youth Organization’s 29th annual dinner.
From the time Lackner first stepped onto Carnegie Mellon’s campus as a freshman, he was a part of 35 consecutive non-losing seasons (1975-2009), 15 conference championships, six NCAA playoff appearances, six Eastern College Athletic Conference bowls with three championships and a 307-141-4 (.681) record from 1975-2021 (spring).
During his playing days at Carnegie Mellon, Lackner was a standout linebacker for the Tartans from 1975-78, as the team comprised a record of 28-7-1 and won PAC titles in 1977 and 1978. He was a four-year starter at linebacker, a three-time All-PAC pick, and the PAC’s 1976 Defensive Player of the Year. In 1978, Lackner helped guide the Tartans to the NCAA playoffs, marking their first postseason appearance since the 1939 Sugar Bowl.
In 1978, Lackner was named to the Pittsburgh Press All-District Team and received a Pittsburgh Post-Gazette Dapper Dan Award. Also a model student, he was twice named a College Sports Information Directors of America Academic All-American.
Carnegie Mellon will begin its search for a new head coach following the 2021 season, with an appointment expected prior to the start of spring practice.